Kerosine Dreams (Leo Valdez x Reader)

The Missing Piece

 Y/N crashed into the ground at an unsafe speed. Her landing wasn't necessarily graceful, but it did the job. Leo dropped her right in front of the kids, who now that Y/N was face to face with them, could see just how horrified they really were. She had been right about them being no older than ten. Their faces were stained with tears and hands were soiled with dirt. Without even thinking, the girl grabbed each of their hands and took off towards the border without even looking back. It was her job to get them past the border, and then she could worry about Leo and what he was doing. All she could hope was that he managed to give her some time.

The ground shook beneath Y/N's feet. Whatever these monsters were had to be way bigger than she assumed. Their heavy breaths shot so far forwards was like wind on her back and the smoke in the air burned at her lungs. Luckily, the kids at her side were just as quick of runners as she was. It took just under a minute for the three half-bloods to reach the border. When they did, Y/N told them to run to the large house as quickly as they could, never stopping to look back. They did just that, but Y/N didn't follow.

She knew her job wasn't done.

Leo may have taken care of two of the monsters, but there was still another out there. When she stood up and turned around, there was a large horned bull just metres from her. It stood, looming above her like a skyscraper blocking out the sun. If things couldn't get worse, they did. A low hanging storm seemingly grew out of nowhere, sending bolts of lighting all around and nearly making the girls ears bleed with shrill crackles.

The bull, or as Y/N assumed, minotaur rammed into the border. It glowed, but in a shattered, cracked pattern. It wouldn't be long before this thing broke straight through and made straight for camp, running her down in the process. So, Y/N did the only thing she could think of. She ran.

Ran to her left, still inside the border, away from camp. She could't see Leo or Fests anywhere, but that wasn't what mattered right now. Her mind was focused on getting this monster as far away from camp as physically possible before she attacked it. Y/N wasn't exactly confident in her monster annihilation skills, but, she figured giving it all she had now as better than letting this thing ransack a camp of innocent demigods.

Luckily for Y/N, in all of the time Leo had to spend alone in his bunker with his thoughts swallowing him whole, a new kind of weapon had been made. Between the repair boy and Tyson, they had created a small strap of leather which Y/N now had wrapped around her upper arm. All it took was one hard smack to the material and a Y/W (your weapon) would spring out, all in one piece and at the ready. It wasn't perfect, and sometimes it didn't work, but Y/N appreciated it nevertheless. She'd only tried it three times earlier today, all within the same ten minutes after Leo gave it to her. All she hoped was that it was going to work this time.

Sure enough, it did. As the girl ran, she hit at her arm and the weapon fell into her hand. With every last bit of energy and confidence she had, Y/N finally ran ahead of the monster and out of the border. Bright, harsh light filled the surrounding area. If seeing wasn't already difficult with the pervasive lighting, it was when combined with the downpour of rain which acted like a thick screen which made it impossible to see any farther than a few feet. Y/N was chilled to the bone, her hands shaking from the cold.

One hit. The minotaur didn't seem to be all that surprised or affected by the girls attack.

A second hit. It seemed a little phased, maybe weakened.

Y/N backed off, trying to think of something. She couldn't just beat this thing simply with brute force, it was nearly seven times her size. But, she could use her weapon differently, in a way the monster would never anticipate.

With quick thinking and hopeful thoughts, Y/N made her third strike. Right at the minotaurs horn, a spot which she had been told was weak.

Sure enough, it was. But the minotaur didn't go down immediately, it took time for it to crumble apart. It wasted no time in striking Y/N down to the ground, the impact causing all of the air in her lungs to violently erupt out. She tried to stand, to once again run in the opposite direction. But, she could't. That was when the monster gladly took its chance and yet again throw all of its energy into knocking the girl though the air. This time, something hard slammed into her ribcage, sending her at least ten feet back into the darkness.

Luckily for Y/N, there was no third attempt from the Minotaur, because she wasn't sure she wouldn't have survived another.

A search party had been sent out by a frantic, screaming Leo. In the rain and lighting, it was difficult to find her, but after nearly ten minutes of searching, she was found. When Leo arrived, he wasn't sure what he was looking at, or how to react to it.

Y/N was broken, laying there with her face pressed firmly into the ground, her ribcage rising and falling unevenly. She wasn't well, in any way, shape or form.

Not only that, but a glowing symbol was hovering above her. The symbol of Y/G/P.

Leo's heart froze. It was her. She was the kid of Y/G/P who was needed for this next quest but had to this moment remained unnamed.